by Julie Tallant

Looking for a sport for your child? Want them to learn discipline and responsibility? Not interested in the typical sports? Fascinated with cars?

Then NHRA Jr. Drag Racing may be the sport for your child.

My daughter Ellie has just started her first full season drag racing. She ran 6 of the 13 races last year. And out of 37 kids she ended 17th. She even took 2nd place in one of the races, complete with her first trophy!

Now I’m sure you’re thinking:

“How old is she?

How fast does she go?

And um…is it safe?”

Well, to be eligible to drag race you have to be 8-years old, obtain a NHRA Jr. Drag racing competition license, and have a car that can pass a tech inspection. There are several different brackets, with different regulations for different ages. From ages 8 – 18, the kids are out there running their cars with anything from a Briggs and Stratton to a Harley Davidson engine (of course, HD is the older bracket!).

Ellie is 10 years old, so she competes in the JR Thunder bracket. She runs mid 11 seconds in the 1/8 mile with a speed of 55 mph.  She wears fire pants, a fire jacket and a full face helmet. She has a five-point harness and arm restraints. To be honest, she’s kept safer than most of us driving our SUVs.

Dewey, Ellie and Julie take a break from racing.

Drag racing is something that has been in my husband’s family for many years.  He started drag racing when he was in high school and continues to this day. I, myself, started racing as well a few years back. So this has truly become a family sport. Ellie races on Saturdays, we camp overnight, and my husband and I race on Sundays. Our home track is Bremerton Raceway, which is a very family-friendly track. And the Jr. Dragster program is great.  They really make it all about the kids.

Now, I must confess, this is not a cheap sport. But let’s face it, if your child gets serious about any sport and gets on a select team, etc. it won’t be an inexpensive venture. And where else can you sit and watch good, clean, legally-sanctioned racing? And did I mention that the cars are great to look at? Everything from VW bugs to Diesel trucks, classics and new cars.

So if you are looking for something to keep your kids out of trouble and give them goals, this may be a great sport to try.

We currently have two sponsors for Ellie: Impromptu Portraits and Duke’s Transmission.  But we’re looking for additional sponsors! As you can imagine, keeping three cars going is quite an expense. If you’re interested in sponsoring Ellie or just have questions about the sport, you may contact us by e-mail JulieTallant@aol.com.

Anyone who sponsors we can put the name of their business on the side of her car as an advertisement.

Links of interest:

• www.bremertonraceway.com
• www.impromptuportraits.com – click on gallery then Family and you will see additional pictures of our family and cars
• www.nhra.com

[EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was written and submitted by BTB Reader Julie Tallant. We encourage all our Readers to submit interesting stories, and ask only that they pertain to something local, are not obvious advertisements, and are interesting. Have any idea? Email us and we'll consider it!]

No, it wasn’t some wayward animal gift from Santa’s sleigh, it was actually two male eagles who got caught up in each other and fell into Gary Hallock’s backyard. Hallock wasn’t sure what to do, since tangled, angry bald eagles with two-inch talons aren’t the easiest animals to deal with, so he called the Sarvey Wildlife Center in Arlington, who came to the rescue.

Here’s the video:

Read KING’s full story here.

If you just happen to be a local pirate looking for a last-minute gift idea, we’ve got a doozy – one of your neighbors is trying to sell a custom-milled, solid one-piece steel, “black powder cannon” that’s only been used twice for just $375!

Some of the features from the Craigslist Ad:

• Black Powder Cannon
• Custom milled solid 1 piece steel.
• Two year old Cannon
• Used Twice
• Fuse Hole
• Shoots Baseball sized objects

Our favorite part of course is this happy ending greeting:

Please email with any questions! Happy Holidays
Stacie

Wait, aren’t these things ILLEGAL?

Who cares…it’s Christmas! So act fast, and email your order in now:

sale-mrhhy-1520671908@craigslist.org

Oh, and whatever you do, don’t read this story about a makeshift cannon that killed a 4-year old boy in Thurston County in July, 2007.

Yes, “Happy Holidays” and have fun with your cannon!

Click to Play Michael Brunk’s SoundSlideshow

In the Forklift Rodeo, drivers were required to use expert forklift operating skills to negotiate a driving course that included various tasks and hazards. Contestants were evaluated on the “safe, efficient, skillful and proper completion of the course using accepted forklift operation standards.”

The top five individual competitors from this competition will advance to the final competition to be held at the 2009 Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Conference.

The Forklift Rodeo was presented by The Material Handling Panel of the Governor’s Industrial Safety & Health Advisory Board and the Department of Labor & Industries.

According to The Seattle Times, a 9-year old boy named Cosmo Miller caught a 150-pound sixgill shark while fishing near Burien last week.

(to enhance this story, please push the play button below:)

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The story goes that Cosmo was fishing with his grandfather, Dave Woltz, using a 30-pound test line when he hooked something big. It apparently took him almost an hour to reel the shark in and take some pictures before turning it loose (thank goodness this large shark is still alive, right swimmers? Actually, sixgill sharks are not dangerous to humans…).

Cosmo told the Times that the fish was about 8 feet long, about half the size of the 16-foot boat he was fishing in, and that he had broken two other fishing poles trying to catch one before.

Here’s a pic of Cosmo’s shark the Times used in their story:

Read Susan Gilmore’s full story here.

See a video story from KING-TV here.

Previously, we did a story on a documentary about sixgill sharks being filmed nearby – read that story here.

Here’s a video of an encounter with one of these puppies:

Click here to view the embedded video.

It almost sounds like a joke, as if it’s some kind of weird competition for unemployed warehouse workers wearing leather chaps, but it’s not – it’s a state-sanctioned “Forklift Rodeo” Regional Competition and it’s coming Saturday, Aug. 22nd to Boeing Field!

And lest you think this is just going to just be a buncha warehouse cowboys doing forklift stunts, keep in mind this is a serious, sanctioned event, ‘cuz there’s even a written test involved!

The prizes will range from $50 to $300, as well as some serious braggin’ rights and a chance to move on to the nationals.

In the Forklift Rodeo, drivers are required to use expert forklift operating skills to negotiate a fun and challenging driving course that includes various tasks and hazards. Contestants are evaluated on the safe, efficient, skillful and proper completion of the course using accepted forklift operation standards.

Regional Competition Day Schedule:

• 9:00 a.m. Registration/Written test
• 10:00 a.m. Drivers meeting/Course familiarization
• 10:30 a.m. Driving competition begins

The top five individual competitors from each regional competition will advance to the final competition to be held at the 2009 Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Conference.

Forklifts will be provided at the competition site, and will consist of sit-down, propane-powered ones with pneumatic tires, standard 42” forks, counterbalanced, with a capacity of 5,000 lbs.

The Forklift Rodeo is being presented by The Material Handling Panel of the Governor’s Industrial Safety & Health Advisory Board and the Department of Labor & Industries.

The entry fee is $40, and here are some other rules:

• No open-toed shoes allowed
• An Automatic Transmission 5,000 lb. forklift will be provided
• The top 5 individual competitors will go to the finals competition.
• Competition limited to 30 drivers at each region – First come, first served – So register now!

For more information, visit the conference Web site: www.wagovconf.org/forklift.htm

To register, download this PDF form here, or contact: Al Rainsberger at 206-281-3842 or toll free: 1-888-451-2004

We’re thinkin’ this rodeo will be held outside, as the website warns:

“Bring lawn chair and sunscreen. Seating may be limited.”

Now, if any Burien forklift cowboys or cowgirls are plannin’ on competin’, let us know ‘cuz we want to spread the word and get a good crowd cheerin’ ya on!

Here are some videos of forklift rodeos to get an idea of what these events are like:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We’re not saying that the 102.9-degree heat recorded Wednesday, July 29, 2009 was the hottest day ever.

No, that would be pretentious of us to think that it’s never been warmer here (since 1891 is when records started being kept, and there was plenty of weather history before then, right?).

With that said, can you FLIPPIN” BELIEVE HOW FLIPPIN’ HOT IT WAS TODAY???

104 degrees?

IN BURIEN???

Okay, so now that it’s cooled down a bit (and our keyboard isn’t drenched in sweat), we’d like to share some pics that BTB Readers sent us after we asked for “hot temp” pics (sorry, we’re only sharing the G-Rated stuff…and thanks gang, keep sending us more of those special pics!):

From Reader Carrie Rasmussen comes these photos of cookies being cooked in the back window of her Nanny Gloria’s car:

That's right...those are chocolate chip cookies baking in the rear window of a car.

And here they are...chocolate chip cookies. Freshly baked. In a CAR.

From Reader Candice Packer comes this pic of a truly-retro Honeywell thermostat showing that today’s temp was totally off the chart:

Our own Mini Cooper Blogmobile recorded the following 104-degree temp whilst overheating in downtown Burien:

BTB Photographer Francis Zera appears to have won the “hottest place” contest with this shot of his thermometer hitting 106.2!:

Francis’ prize of course is a duct-taped-patched down snowcoat we found at Value Village for $4.99, which he will be required to wear everyday (zipped up to the neck) until summer ends.

In the meantime, if you have any hot weather pics (wink wink), send ‘em our way. We’ll be posting more until we pass out from heat exhaustion.

Click to View Gregory Rehmke’s Photo Slideshow

BTB Reader Kathi Vallade sent us the photo above, which she took at Saturday’s Burien Town Square grand opening celebration; here’s what she had to say about it:

OK…So I was at the Burien Town Square opening today and snapped this random picture of this girl walking by because I thought her hair was adorable! (It had a few different colors in stripes,kind of like a rainbow…SUPER CUTE!)

ANYWAYS, when I got home and uploaded the pictures I noticed it looks like I may have captured her Aura! (Cool huh?!)

I would love to find her to show her the photo but HOW on Earth do you go about finding a complete stranger ?!

(And how weirdo does it sound “Hi, I took your picture at random and saw this interesting glow around you and just HAD to track you down!”)

So…is the light around the girl’s head her “aura” or just lens flare?

We sent the original, uncropped photo to our Photographer Michael Brunk, who studied it – here’s his take:

Having seen the uncropped original, I’d say this is almost definitely lens flare.

It was taken around 12:30pm according to the meta-data, so the sun was starting to burn through the clouds about that time. You can see the camera was pointing slightly up and to the right, which angles the lens towards the bright natural light bouncing off the clouds. And this was shot with a Canon Powershot A720 so it most likely did not have a lens hood on which would tend to help prevent lens flare.

This thread has a couple of examples of lens flare that look very similar to the photo you sent. It’s just a fluke that in this case, the visible artifact is centered on the girl’s head:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=465848

So…what do YOU think? Is that an “aura” or just lens flare? Please Comment below…

Click to View Slideshow

Janet says:

“Diva,” our Olympic swimmer wanna-be, dived into the sound and swam two miles to the end of the rainbow in Normandy Park Cove only to find a leprechaun being choked by a neighbor.

She tried mouth to mouth on the little guy only to find the swine flu of her rainbow.